Identifier | Created | Classification | Origin |
---|---|---|---|
08TOKYO2729 | 2008-09-30 08:37:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Tokyo |
VZCZCXRO4731 PP RUEHCHI RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHPB DE RUEHKO #2729/01 2740837 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 300837Z SEP 08 FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7613 INFO RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5602 RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN 1499 RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2794 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 2196 RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2544 RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 6277 RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1595 RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 0136 RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 2493 RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 3878 RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 0711 RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6590 RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0468 RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 7157 RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC RUEATRS/TREASURY DEPT WASHDC RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS |
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 002729 |
1. (C) SUMMARY: Prime Minister Taro Aso's campaign pledges and initial policy speech have focused on an economic stimulus policy that appeals to Japanese voters concerned about their pocketbooks and the direction of Japan's economy. Aso's short-term electoral focus is not to launch a return to the pork-barrel politics of the 1990s. Rather, his remarks show thinking that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will have a hard time fighting a Lower House election on a platform of fiscal austerity and pursing needed -- but painful -- structural reforms. END SUMMARY. -------------------------- -------------------------- SHORT-TERM ECONOMIC STIMULUS: AN ELECTION NECESSITY -------------------------- -------------------------- 2. (C) Prime Minister Aso, who faces the question of whether and when to dissolve the diet and call for early Lower House elections, is building an economic campaign program built around a central theme: "stimulating the stagnating Japanese economy." During his first address as Prime Minister on September 29, Aso pushed his three-stage approach: stimulate the economy in the short-term; repair the country's fiscal balance in the medium-term; and increase Japan's potential economic growth rate through structural reform in the long-term. Despite having experienced its longest continuous period of economic growth, albeit uneven and with little real wage growth, in post-war history, Japan's economy now is weakening (at an annualized real rate of negative 3 percent GDP growth in the second quarter of 2008) and slowing global growth is restricting Japan's ability to export its way out of the downturn. As a result, Aso is putting a priority on short-term economic stimulus. 3. (C) He has also put aside, at least for now, the structural reform banner that former PM Koizumi once held high. The need to reform the pension and healthcare systems, to introduce greater competition into the economy, and to raise productivity have not gone away, but the dominant perception within the LDP is that the public is tired of structural reform and needs to be reassured. As one member of the Council for the Promotion of Regulatory Reform summarized developments over the past two years to Emboffs, former PM Abe "was willing, but not competent, to work on reform, PM Fukuda was not interested, and PM Aso might even turn the clock backwards." Aso also seems ready to suspend or delay the present fiscal consolidation target of achieving a government primary surplus by FY2011, as he has implied on a number of occasions. Aso's fiscal policy will widen the deficit, reversing the current trend of narrowing the deficit since FY2004. This reversal, without monetary adjustments from the Bank of Japan, will likely invite higher long-term interest rates and encourage the yen to strengthen. -------------------------- WHAT ABOUT THE CABINET? -------------------------- 4. (C) Media commentators already are criticizing Aso's cabinet for lacking "star personalities" and for being a "don't lose the election" cabinet (Ref). New LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda admitted as much September 26 saying the LDP's target is "to win a majority and remain in power." Moreover, PM's Aso's selection of Shoichi Nakagawa to be both TOKYO 00002729 002.2 OF 002 Finance Minister and Minister for Financial Services probably re-inforces Aso's inclination to shift toward fiscal stimulus. As recently as August, Nakagawa laid out an economic plan to a prominent monthly magazine that focused on corporate and income tax cuts, infrastructure spending, and a variety of subsidies to average consumers. In meetings with Emboffs earlier in the year, Nakagawa took pains to argue it was well-timed government spending in the early 2000s, rather than structural reform, that finally allowed Japan to escape from its "lost decade" of malaise that followed the bursting of Japan's economic bubble in the early 1990s. 5. (C) The retention of Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Kaoru Yosano, though, may signal that Aso's focus on short-term economic stimulus does not necessarily mean a return to the LDP's free-spending ways of the 1980s. Japan's public debt remains the highest in the OECD, and Yosano has been a prominent voice for fiscal discipline. It is noteworthy that, although PM Aso has stated he would like to finance the proposed supplementary budget through reform of the so-called "special accounts," current planning would require an additional 395 billion yen worth of construction bonds to finance the new expenditures. The plan would increase public debt, but only modestly and without a more eye-catching issuance of government bonds. -------------------------- COMMENT -------------------------- 6. (C) Aso's focus on fiscal stimulus is a reflection of election politics, for good and for bad. He is grappling with lower-than-hoped-for initial polls, a slowing domestic economy, fears about the global financial system, and an embarrassing resignation of his Minister for Land, Infrastructure, and Transport after only five days on the job (Septel). Aso is playing the difficult hand he was dealt and will continue to lock horns with the opposition Democratic Party of Japan over his economic and other proposals. SCHIEFFER |